The not so glamorous side of travel

Some days, a foul enough public toilet is enough to make me want to turn around and just go home. But it's like anything - you've always got to take the good with the bad. 99% of the time, it's worth it - even if you have to hold your nose and try not to touch anything.. because when you gotta go, you gotta go.

Public Toilets

So on that note, I've decided to start with public toilets because it's number one on my list, when I'm talking about the "unglamorous" side of travel. The public toilets in Italy, I think, are some of the worst. Period. I always try to time my toilet breaks to avoid using them, but sometimes it's inevitable.

And I don't think I'm exaggerating when I say Italian public toilets are the actual pits.. In fact, some of them may as well be drop toilets, they're that bad.

NOTE: The toilets in Europe are often labelled W.C for Water Closet. So keep an eye out for those signs.

Each public toilet is different, so just be prepared. Some cost you 0.50Euro and the only way to access it, is with the exact change and nearby shops have signs in their windows saying they won't swap coins. Some can cost up to 2Euro and may even accept card and this is meant to go towards the upkeep of the toilets. It's not a bad idea, in an ideal world. You wouldn't mind paying if they're not horrible, but I quickly came to realise this is definitely not always the case.

Then, don't even get me started on the state of the toilets near some of the major tourist attractions. I swear travellers just don't know how to aim - but I digress... moving on.

TIP: Obviously common sense plays a part here, so just make sure you take advantage of the facilities available as you sit down for lunch/dinner. You can always buy something at a cafe/bar if you want to use their facilities, but there's no guarantee they're much nicer than the public ones. My biggest thing is just bring sanitiser with you, and if you think you can hold on until you get back to the apartment, maybe it's not the worst option in the world.

Living Out of a Suitcase

At first, I forgot just how bad it can be. All of my clothes were packed with order and precision, and I wondered what there was to complain about. But by day 5 or 6, my clean undies were running low, I couldn't find that one shirt deep down under all of the piles of stuff that I supposedly needed - and that's when the moment of realisation kicked in - I forgot how chaotic it can be.

Then, of course, lugging our 20-something kilo bags throughout Europe is a mission in itself. Usually there are countless flights of stairs, or there's not enough space on the train to store them, or we're so jam packed into the carriage, we can barely fit ourselves, letalone a month's worth of belongings.

TIP: Honestly, if it were as simple as "pack less", I'd be doing that. I packed for the possibility of 3 different seasons, so I was always going to have this issue. I guess for us, it's more of a slight annoyance, than a full blown issue.. So we just allow a bit more time getting to train stations so we can lug the damn heavy things without the added stress of time restraints.